As Americans continue to react to President Donald Trump's tax return information, the conversation places renewed interest on stimulus checks. Direct payments to Americans had first been approved under the CARES Act in March, though, as the economic crisis sparked by the coronavirus pandemic has continued, lawmakers on Capitol Hill have failed to strike a deal that would provide an additional round of relief.
Although Trump's tax filings have long been kept secret, the New York Times on Sunday published a report after obtaining 18 years' worth of the president's tax documents. According to the report, Trump paid no federal income taxes for 11 of the 18 years the Times looked at and, in 2016 and 2017, he paid just $750 in income tax per year. The filings also revealed that Trump is deeply in debt to the IRS and to private lenders, and is embroiled in a legal battle over an IRS audit that could have dire consequences for him.
The fact that Trump, a self-proclaimed billionaire, only paid $750 in income taxes, as well as the other reported details, has unsurprisingly proved controversial. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's campaign even released a "Trump Tax Calculator" that reveals the difference in how much you paid in income taxes compared to the president. The report has also prompted more discussion on stimulus checks, with many expressing anger that the president was able to pay so little in taxes while the Congress has continued to fail to bring much-needed relief to the people they are meant to serve. Keep scrolling to see the discussion currently taking place on Twitter.